Split in Women of the Wall Widens

A subset of Women of the Wall leaders and supporters, who disagree with a plan to compromise on where the group can pray at the Kotel, has doubled in size from 10 to 21. Women of the Wall is a feminist group pushing to be able to sing, pray aloud and wear ritual garments typically worn by men at the women's section of the Kotel.

The subset group announced last week that it rejected a plan put forth by Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky and conditionally accepted by Women of the Wall that would expand Robinson's Arch, an area of egalitarian prayer.

The group released an open letter on Tuesday clarifying its dissent of the Sharansky plan and declaring that, "We are committed to our dream and to the work needed to fully realize and sustain it."

Signatories include Rabbi Susan Silverman and Dr. Phyllis Chesler.

The dissenters wrote:

"The government proposes making structural changes at Robinson's Arch to create a site to which all whose prayer practice is not tolerated by those who now control the Kotel will be relegated, leaving the Kotel permanently and officially in the hands of a segment of Jewry that suffers the presence of other Jews only on its terms. Regrettably, the Israeli government is yielding to intimidation, threats, and violence as the basis for policy making, rather than upholding the equality of rights of all citizens in public space that is enshrined in Israel's Declaration of Independence."

Rabbi David Saperstein, Director and Counsel of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and longtime supporter of Women of the Wall, told the Forward that the Reform movement officially supports the Sharansky plan, and that dissent like this was not uncommon in Judaism. "It's not that we don't think there's a legitimate argument on the other side," he said. "It's a respectful difference."

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Women of the Wall gathered at the Kotel in May.

"Good moral caring people can differ on strategies and tactics, and how to achieve common goals, in this case, equal treatment of women at the wall," Saperstein said. "Each of the locations has different strengths, and each of the locations has drawbacks. It seems that significant majority are willing to embrace the Sharansky approach.

"We're sympathetic and appreciative of the majority of Women of the Wall who think that opening a larger area of the wall to be accessible to all people, all Jews, is most effective way of addressing need of having egalitarian, pluralistic, access to the Wall," he said.

In an email to the Forward, Chesler wrote: "It occurs to me that we are not the dissidents. We are sticking to our fundamental and foundational principles. We are, oddly, the traditionalists and the current WOW Board have departed from our tradition. We hope we can get them to change their mind and come back to basics."